Automatic air coupler



Oct. 16, 1923.

, C. E. BARNHART AUTOMATIC ,AIR COUPLER Filed Aug. 18

1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ave/1M0:- C E. Barn/1am awuewtoz I GEBarvzharZ 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C E BARNHART AUTOMATIC A-IR COUPLER Filed Aug 18, 1921 6495mm M4 0 ,20 w 1 erally improve uponcouplers of this class' Patented @ct.16,l923.

s An'rontarro 2 avieg Ara .oournnn.

a lication filed August is, 1921. Serial 116.. 493,304. 3

o all whom it a o ngemf 1 Be it known that I, CUnTIs E. Bmmim,

a citizen orthe United States, residin at Auburn, in the county of Neinaha and tater v 5 of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Air Coupiers; and I dodeclare the following to be 9 a full, clear, and exact tlescriptiongof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and:

usethe same, W s

This inventionfrelates to an. improved device for automatically coupling the air or steam line'between cars, and it has ,for its principal object to provide a device which,

" is absolutely leak proof and which is such that li'ability'o'f breakage of] anyo f the parts during the coupling" operation is "practically eliminated. I p 7 Another object of theinvent-ion is to genby the provision of one of extreme simplicity anddurability wherein one of the condu ts which extends from one car is made flexible to accommodate relativemovementsbetween,

the cars and to prevent breakage of this 'conduitwhenthe car s become angled'when turning curves in the track.

A. further object of the invention is to provide anjautomatic, fluid line coupling which includes a cylinder in wh ch a piston. v isslidable, the sameb eing moved by the fluid fpr'e'ssure whichiis exerted against it, and carryingon its outer end a gasket which 3 responding element on the fluid line with whichit coacts on the other car, thus providing afluid tight ioint. 1

A still further ob 'ect of to provide a coupling of the type under consideration which "embodies the aforesaid coupling together with coiled springs for "assisting in bringing about a leak proof joint. these springs hav ng the additional are uncoupled.- thusiipreventing undue movement and rattling.

' ther objects iandfadvantages the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description. 1

" In the accompanying-drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to, designate like partsthroughout the same:

is forced into tight engagement with the corthe invention is ,fiinction ofmaintaining the piston normally at one end of the cylinder when the scars' Figurelliis a b ott om plan view the end! of, two cars equipped with my improved airline coupling.

CURTIS n, nnnnnnnngos AUBURN; NEBRASKA. V

-Figur e .2 is a central longitudinal seo- Figure 3-i' s a viewsimilar toFig. 2 show-- 5 substantially? on the ,planes or therlines 4- 14 and 5 -5 respectively ofFig. 2.

,Broadly speaking; the invention, comprises male and female members which are:

anchored onthe air .or steam pipes 'on'the car, said members extend ng beyond the 1 "ends jof the can and beingfpositioned in a alignment with one another. so that when the cars come together and are coupled, the

m atically couple when; said members are an gages with one; another. from considering the following description, one of said members embodies a' fiexiblc {conduit witha gasket at its {free end; while air lines from theseparate cars willfauto-' As will be; seen I theremainingmember; which is likewisein the form of 'a'conduit, includes a flared envtrance to guidethelmalefmember into engagement with the female member this last named member embodying a pressure-21cm 'at'ed piston carrying a gasket;which:is engageable with the first namedfgasket, so that ,when the. coupling is effected, anabsolutely leak-proofjointvis had; v a

Referring'to the drawings by 'numerals, 1 designates I generally, the malei. conduit referred to. above and thi'sfone being carried r by one car and inits preferred form comprising a' hose/2 vsurrounded by a coiled which accommodate the relative movementsofthe cars Wlth'OIlt causing any breakage. Before proceeding; I wish tostate that, i ooe as is usual, there'will betwo' of these im-" proved couplers used on each car as shown spring 3; thus providing a cflexible conduit l in "Figure 1 .Of th w s 7 e r, since I ithedescrizption from snow onwill be in the singular, it being understood tha,t1wherever such terms occur they indicate a]llikefparts. 1 i

Proceedingit'is tobe said that thelpart 1 il icludes a short; pipe section 4; having a reduced neck'o extending into-theaforesaid hose 2, the main portion of this .pipe ibeing .eachcoupling is duplicate "of the other, 1

l as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This pipe 4 is I equipped at its extremity with a suitable gasket ,6. It maybe stated here that suitable brackets 7 will be employed for connecting the various parts to the bottom of the car bodies as shown and these bracketswill be constructed to accommodate the parts of the J coupling with which they are connected.v It

is understood that the flexible conduit is conthe remaining part of the device, which has been before generally indicated asthe fe male member, it isYtobepointed out that this part in its preferred form includes acylinder 8 in which a piston 9 'is' slidably I at the-point of connection-of these two parts v limited; Both the head and rod ofthe pisarranged. This" cylinder is constructed to permit the, steam pipe or air pipe l0 .to be connected therewith as shown in the drawings and is ,eq-uip'pedfwith a flange its op V posite' end to which the flanged guide-part I 11 is bolted, or; otherwise detachably connected. Itis to'be noted that thepart 11' is of less diameter than the cylinder 8 and a shoulder 12 is, formed and the head ofthe {piston 9 engages this shoulder so that the movement of the piston in one direction is ton are formed with a bore so that the fluid is permitted vto pass .tlierethrough. At the I endof the piston rod is another. gasket 6 which engages'the first n a med'gasket and after the coupling effected, these gaskets bear sufiiciently tight againstone another to 'form'alealnproof joint. [To assure such a joint, I employ aplurality ofcoiled springs 1 3and connect' t-hese atone end with a suit-'- able part of the Tde'vice,'while I connect them at the opposite ends with'hoo-ks 14 carried by thepiston head; It is obvious that when the part '1 is engaged with the free end of the. piston rod and the, cars are brought" closer together so as to engage the coupling I heads of the main coupler, the piston will be moved longitudinallyiand' the springs 13 placed under tension so that'the parts will assume a position somewhat like that indi: 'cated in Fig. 3. Hence, the tendency of the springs'to resist said movement together with the action of the fluid pressure on the, piston will cause the gaskets6and 6 to bear tightly. against one"another' and'thus pro 7 vide the 'desiredxliquid-proof joint. To fa-* cilitateengagementof the members of the couplingwith one" another, I equip the feei In operation, it

n be Seen that the im- I scope of the subjoined,

carried by one'of the cars, willenter the conical guide 15 and the gasket on the free end thereof; will become engaged with the gasket on the end of the hollow piston rod.

A sliding movement willlthen be imparted to the piston and the springs 13 will become elongated and placed under tension and the Y above results obtained. H neoted in any suitable way with the end of the air or steam pipe on the car on which" this conduit is arranged. Referring; now to sirable coupling for fluid lines on railway cars, The construction andarrangement is such that strength and durability is insured and 'effectiveness' of operationis likewise insured; Theparts are such that they can be easilyseparated in making repairs and will" accommodate various angling of the cars when making turns or curve's in the track. The foregoing and other features of f the invention, have no doubtbeen made apparent from the foregoing description, as 1s llkewise a clear understandlng of the 111:

ventior'n Therefore, a more lengthy and detailed description is thought unnecessary. Since probably the best results may be obtained with the constructiouand arrangement herein shown andfdescrib ed, this is taken as, the preferred embodiment of the v invention. 'However, Iwishit to be understood that minor changescom-ing within-the claims ,may be .resorted to ifdesired. V i r I claim: i

,1. A coupler of the class described comprising a flexible conduit" havinga gasket 'at itsouter end, a secondconduit for cooperation with the first named conduit, in-

cluding acylinder connected to a fluid pipe, a piston slidable in said cylinder, the head and rod thereof being formed with a-bore to permit passage of the fluid therethrough, means closing-one end of the cylinder for limiting thesliding movement of the piston in one direction, a' conical guide, coiled springs connected with said guide adjacent said piston for resisting the sliding move- ;ment ofthe latter, and a gasket carried by the piston .rod for co-action with said first named gasket. Y

j 2. A structure of the character described comprising a conduit having a. gasket at its outer end, a second conduit, a. cylinder con-- nected with thesecond conduit, said cylinder having a reduced portionpro'viding'an abutment shoulder and having a flaring inlet, a hollow piston in said cylinder limited inits sliding movement inone direction by saidshoulderand' having a hollow rod extension extending through the reduced portion of said cylinder into said inlet and provided at its outer end with a gasket for engagement by the gasket of the first men- I tioned conduit, and springs in the reduced portion ofsaid cylinderconnectedwith said piston to yieldably holdrsaid piston against movement away fromrsaid shoulder/ 3. A structure ofthe character described comprising a conduit provided with a gasket at its outer end, a seoond conduit, a cylinder carried by the second conduit and having a reduced portion terminatingfin a flaring inlet, a hollow piston in said cylinderfand provided at its outer end with a gasket for engagement by the gasket of the first mentioned conduit, and'springmeans having engagement with said piston to yieldably hold the same against sliding in the cylinder in one direction.

. CURTIS E. BARNHARTL J In testimony whereof I have hereunto- "set my hand. inder having a hollow rod extensionextend- 

